The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-12-03

against me.
On the night previous a jewelr,
. store on Superior street had beel
robbed of a large amount of jewelry
and the robbers had got away, %leavin!
no clew for the detectives. This wa
some of the plumber. l told then
where l found it, but as | would no
tell them who I was, or any thing
about myself. my find was declared toe
thin. Under the same circumstances
to-day l would do just as the officers
did then. They regarded my green
ness as assumed for the occasion. and
the newspapers put me down as one
of the sharpest and shrewdest thieves
in the country, Every inducement
was held out to me to give away my
confederates. who were supposed to be
older men and tougher characters, and
my inability 70 do it was laid to shrewd-
ness and nerve. The only lame point
with the detectives was the fact that l
was on my way into the city when cap
turcd, and that l was showing myself
openly and boldly. 1t was hard to be-
lieve that a robber would hang about
town with his pockets full of plumber,
but they got over this by saying it was
a shrewd move on my part to throw
them off the scent.
Had l acknowledged my identity,
| Uncle Jabc2 would have come on TO de-
fcnd and clear me, but would have also
taken me back and thrashcd me within
an inch of my life. l dreaded him
more than State prison, e1a. there
fore, when the trial came on ! had
nothing to say, aud vas sentenced to
State prison for three years, | was
clad OF 1t. would be of age when |
came out, and as no n would hear of
ne in the interval, | would have moth
inc to fear from my tyrant of an uncle.
The fact that l served only four
months of my sentence was due to the
efforts of one old detective in another
case. l had forgotten to tell you that
the ieweler and two of the clerks had
"fully identified me as "a person
who had been in the store several
times just previous to the robbery"
The proprietor swote that he sold The a
ring for two dollars, and of the
clerks testified on the stand that | stood
for half an hour and bartorcd with him
about Il silver watch,
"Thcn you positively swear he is the
person." asked my counsel in each
ease.
II do was tho decided answer.
| could have shown that l was
twenty-five miles away at the time,
and that | had never stepped foot in
before the morning Of my
but, for reasons which l have
| made no effort in my own de-
went off to prison with a COM
paratively light heart, knowing my
own innocence. | had been a convict
four months when, one day, l
was called into the warden's office.
There were several gentlemen
present, and among them l rec
oganized the Cuyahoga County
prosecuting attorney and two Cleve-
and detectives. The prosecutor be-
gan by declaring that | was an inno-
,ent man, and then asked for my story.
Under promise that they would not be- :
ray me l gave it to them. 1t seems
hat the detective, in working up an
'ther case, had fallen upon the jewelry
'obbers and secured most of the
,lunder. There were three of them,
II old hands, and the stuff ! found had
,een lost by them as they drove out of
he city. Robbers though they were,
hey did me a good turn by denying
hat had any hand in the affair. In
Iced, after the case was opened, the
detectives saw that a biunder had been
made in arresting me. The gentleman
lad come with a pardon from the Gov
and | returned to Cleveland with
hem on the promise Of employment.
70 test the value of the people at the
store as witnesses the detective
ook me in there and asked if they
iad ever seen me before. Four months
ould not have changed me much, and
ct those who have sworn 50 boldly /
gainst me on the stand now denied
yer having seen me before. ,
| have been Il detective for years,
ut that circumstance has been upper
most in my mind when | had a ease
'here the identity of n prisoner was !
o be sworn to. Ihave always cautioned
ny witnesses not to testify unless sat
SIZED beyond all doubt. My caution ,
as several times operated to let Il bad
nan escape the clutches of the law. but
hat was better thar to swear an inno-
ent mans life or liberty away.--M Y.
He Wanted Coffee.